The Key to Pet Brand Success: Your Brand Attributes

No matter how long your pet product company has been in business, it’s never too late to improve or recreate your business’s brand.

The first step to implementing a strong pet product brand is to define the brand attributes of your business. Brand attributes are the characteristics that your audience sees as a fundamental part of your brand.

Let’s say your brand was a person, and that person walks into a bar. They make an impression with their outfit, speak to some new people, tell a few stories, and leave.

How would people describe that person after they left? More importantly: how do you want people to describe your brand when you’re not in the room?

Your answers to those questions will point you in the direction of your company’s brand attributes.

As part of our branding process, Aventive Studio will define the unique brand attributes of your pet business and create a visual brand that expresses these attributes. See case studies of our branding & design projects here.

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I recommend that my clients start by identifying four or five core brand attributes for their business.

Some pet product marketing elements such as social media platform trends will change over time and force your business to evolve; however, the brand attributes of your company will not change unless you choose to pivot and undergo a rebrand.

Because a company’s brand attributes remain consistent over time, they serve as the foundation of the entire brand. Your marketing and design team will express these brand attributes in different ways as your business discovers what strategies work best to attract your ideal customers.

Not sure who your ideal customers are yet? Our  ideal client blueprint will show you how to identify your exact target customer (down to their name and where they hang out after work!) so you can attract more of them. Get your copy of the blueprint here:

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How to Identify Your Brand Attributes: Step by Step

To identify the brand attributes of your pet business, the best option is to work with a branding agency who can create a brand strategy & packaging design that attracts your ideal client and helps you more sales. Contact Aventive Studio to learn more about our branding services!

However, to get started on your own, here is a simple exercise to help you identify your pet product company’s brand attributes:

Brainstorm a list of words that describe your brand’s culture. How would your employees describe your company? What is your brand’s big vision?

Make a second list of words, and this time come up with attributes of your potential customers. Do they care deeply about dog collar safety? Do they wish their cat could play fetch? How would you describe them?

Create a third list of words, and this time your list will include desired emotions that your customers experience after using your product. Are they thrilled because they finally found a safe alternative to catnip? Are they relaxed because they know their puppy is in good hands?

Make a fourth (and final!) list of words that describes your company’s brand voice. Does your pet product business sound trendy, medical, professional, fun-loving, or something else?

Lastly, look through the previous four lists you made and identify the strongest word in each list. These four words are your core brand attributes.

While every business will have distinct brand attributes, there are some industry-specific guidelines that your company may want to take into consideration when narrowing down your brand attributes. When it comes to pet products, consumers think about the following:

Is your brand trustworthy and safe? Customers want to feel that their pets will be secure and unharmed when using your product.

Is your brand warm, compassionate, or positive? Pet owners have extremely positive emotional associations with their pets, and your brand can mirror those happy emotions.

Is your brand aimed at luxury, medium, or affordable pricing? There are plentiful pet owners at every price point, but if you want to tailor your products towards one of these segments, your visual branding is a great place to do that.

Expressing Your Company’s Brand Attributes

We’re about to dive into the nitty-gritty of how to express your brand attributes through your company’s content and visuals, but the most important rule of brand strategy is: let your brand attributes be the North Star of everything.

Companies who we think of as having a strong brand (such as Uber, Starbucks, and Coca Cola) maintain that status by staying “on brand” at every moment. These companies only post, share, and create things that are aligned with their brand attributes.

Some businesses, like Starbucks, engage in socially conscious initiatives because their brand has a strong focus on community.

Other companies, like Nike, aren’t afraid to wade into politics because Nike is known for being disruptive. These actions are not taken spontaneously, but rather with the consideration of each company’s respective brand attributes.

Brand Attributes Example: PetSafe

PetSafe is a manufacturer of pet products, and the company creates anything from litter boxes and feeders to pet doors, fencing, potty training products, and more. Because of this diverse assortment of products, PetSafe could have gone in a variety of different directions with its branding.